Re: The Baby From Auschwitz, Aug. 25. The Holocaust survivor who shared her story with us is doing us all a great service. It allows us to learn about how the human condition, and just how low people can sink. If we learn about it, there is less chance of it happening again. This woman is incredible. She is just as beautiful now as she was then — her face portrays both strength and endurance.E. Brummel, New York, N.Y.

Tears filled my eyes before I could finish reading the story about the woman who gave birth in a Nazi death camp. My grandmother was murdered in Auschwitz and my mother came to Canada as an orphan in 1947.

As I sit in the comfort of my bright, sunny kitchen, surrounded by my beautiful and lively children, I add this story to all of those stories I know that haunt me, but serve as a constant reminder of the courage and strength of people like Miriam Rosenthal during these dark days.Lisa Diner, Thornhill, Ont.

I choked up, big time, when I read article about Miriam and Leslie Rosenthal.

Born in 1934, I grew up in Toronto and moved to Calgary when I was 17. I went to school in the 1940s and had lots of Jewish friends. Looking back, it is hard to believe how much prejudice there was against the Jews in places like Toronto. They weren’t welcome in some clubs or neighbourhoods, they were often stereotyped and people would talk about them in negative terms behind their backs.

When Ms. Rosenthal recounts the story about the pregnant women being asked to line up, she asks, “Can you imagine?” That question could apply to your whole story. No, we can’t imagine because it is too horrible and too difficult to believe that people like the Nazis could even exist.Gordon Goodfellow, Calgary.

Reliable intelligence

Re: Time To Get Tough With Tehran, letters to the editor, Aug. 28. Letter-writer Lars Troide justifies bombing Iran, and the ensuing nuclear Holocaust, by quoting two great 18th-century thinkers. I would counter with a quote from Yuval Diskin, former head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service, who branded the country’s leaders, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak, as “messianic” and unfit to lead the country, as well as Israel’s top military commander, Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz, who told Haaretz that he does not believe Iran has, or will ever use, the bomb.

Liberal mismanagement

Re: McGuinty Talks Tough In Waterloo, Scott Stinson, Aug. 28. The arrogance of the Ontario Liberal government knows no bounds. It has reached out for a lifeline from Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak, without whom it has no chance of getting its wage-freeze bill past the NDP. But in asking for help, Premier Dalton McGuinty has demanded unconditional PC support to be put in writing, with nary a trade-off nor a quid pro quo on offer.

Perhaps this attitude begins to explain how the Liberals have mismanaged virtually every ministry over its three terms in office, while running up Ontario’s highest ever per capita debt.Warren Adamson, Mississauga, Ont.

Viva le Quebec status quo

Re: Pauline Marois’ Assault On Democratic Values, editorial, Aug. 23. Quebec separatists are going to keep on being a thorn in Canada’s side for a long time to come. However, we should know by now that the majority of Quebecers know in their hearts that the only way to have their cake and eat it is to is stay right where they are: An almost-sovereign nation that gets massive handouts from the rest of Canada. Who’d want to leave home and lose all those benefits? Many Quebecois who shout, “Viva le Quebec libre,” are really thinking, “Viva le Quebec status quo.”William Bedford, Toronto.

The right stuff

Re: ‘Not very talkative, but a real gentleman,’ Marni Soupcoff, Aug. 28. I was nine-years old when Apollo 11 flew to the moon in the summer of 1969. I watched every possible moment and read everything I could about that mission. It was a great time to be a kid. From the fictional James Kirk to the factual Neil Armstrong — the idea of spaceflight galvanized and inspired many to become professional pilots, to reach for the stars.

Whenever pilots get together over a beer to swap stories about feats of flying, the conversation inevitably turns to the Apollo program and to Mr. Armstrong. Not to take anything away from his able crew mates, but there is only one commander. Mr. Armstrong commanded mankind’s the first landing on another celestial body. The man (or woman) who lands on Mars will only be number two.

But will we go to Mars? Will we return to the moon? I hope so. Ironically, the standard canard for expressing frustration — “If we can put a man on the moon, why can’t we …” — is increasingly being replaced by, “Why can’t we put a man on the moon?”Marty Burke, Guelph, Ont.

Doctor’s fight about to get ‘nasty’

Re: Leave Politics Out Of The Doctor’s Office, editorial, Aug. 25. Ontario’s Liberal government has decided to play hardball with doctors. It is trying to bypass the OMA and are trying to take total control of the OHIP billing system. This has forced doctors to take unusual steps in order to inform the public about the ramifications of the government’s actions. Stay tuned, as this dog fight will become very nasty, sooner than later.Earl Dobkin, Toronto.

Power imbalance has always been an integral part of the doctor/patient relationship. The current shortage of primary-care doctors in Ontario has caused that differential to increase exponentially. Many patients do not have a primary-care or family doctor and are thus compelled to use emergency rooms and walk-in clinics as a substitute. In under-serviced areas of the province patients wait for weeks to an appointment with a GP or family doctor.

Many doctors restrict their practice to those who require the least servicing thus eliminating many of the elderly from developing a relationship with a doctor when their needs are at a maximum.

The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is an extremely well financed and powerful lobby group. Prior to the recent breakdown in negotiations, the OMA was advertising how their members are providing excellent care for Ontario patients. Now the OMA is using its resources to solicit patient support for strong-arming the government into reconsidering its position.

Given that many patients are limited to one medical issue per appointment, how can doctors justify wasting time to advocate for their financial interests, instead of treating sick patients? As your editorial points out, there are more proper ways for the doctors to advocate for their financial interests, which are outside the examining room.Marvin H. Siegel, Toronto.

My 86-year-old mother was assessed recently for removal of a cataract. While waiting for her appointment, she was handed a clipboard with various forms to complete, along with a copy of the petition to sign. Although I told her that she did not have to sign it, she was afraid that if she did not, she would risk getting her surgery in a timely fashion. I fail to understand how making a vulnerable elderly patient feel coerced and intimidated constitutes promoting the patient’s best interest.Elizabeth Edwards, registered nurse, Belleville, Ont.

Enough anti-male rhetoric

Re: Men, Who Needs Them?, Greg Hampikian, Aug. 28. I am taken aback that the National Post would sink so low as to publish this mindless diatribe. At first I thought you were playing a joke. But a careful read of this anti-male hate piece makes it clear that the author truly despises men.

Would your newspaper print a hateful op-ed entitled “Jews, Who Need Them?” or “French-Canadians, Who Needs Them?” The only positive thing about publishing this ratty piece is to inform Post readers of the poor editorial standards at the once-respected New York Times.

Why did you publish this hateful essay? I realize that your paper is slowly embracing the lulu-land world of political correctness. But even so, there are positive ways of joining the left-wing media cartel without spewing hate.David Murrell, Fredericton, N.B.

Jewish stereotype

Re: Lots Of Life Ahead, Ray Argyle, Aug. 28. Ray Argyle writes that the Jewish female students at the Rand School in 1920s New York may have assumed that the young Joey Smallwood was Jewish because of his looks: “his dark hair, hooked nose and horn rimmed spectacles helped convey that impression.” It is surprising that a Canadian writer would use such an offensive and caricatured description of a Jew in the year 2012.Susan Schacter, Toronto.

Letting it all hang out

Re: Crackdown On Nudity Exposes Naturists’ Fury, Aug. 28. The serious visual threat of a naked septuagenarian has to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No expense should be denied in ridding our society of the image of anyone lying au naturel with nothing but the sun above and the ground below their backsides. How dare people born in naked perfection not hide their bodies from the likes of the naked body police who protect the public from knowing the truth below the garments we wear?

Robbing the RoC to pay Quebec

RE: Quebec’s 15 Minutes Of Fame, letter to the editor, Aug. 28. Far from Quebec needing a federalist lesson from Ottawa, it’s Ottawa that’s caught between a RoC and a hard place, forever surrendering to the demands of La Belle Province and its conditional raison d’être to remain married. Canada’s “Robin Hood” equalization payments have become Quebec’s federalist blackmail ticket to a more-than-equal share of marital bliss. In the absence of a prenuptial agreement, Quebec’s permanent fiscal imbalance promises to keep this precarious marriage together, at an ever-increasing price for the rest of Canada.

No doubt, George Bernard Shaw had those all-important electoral politics of equalization in mind when he said: “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” No amount of editorializing and letter writing seems to change Canada’s perennial political quagmire of Quebec haggling over the ransom price of national harmony. Indeed, there’s that famous story of the very same George Bernard Shaw asking the lady seated beside him at a dinner party whether she would sleep with him for a million pounds:

“Of course not!” the lady exclaimed indignantly. “What do you think I am?”

“We’ve already established what you are, madam,” Shaw replied. “Now we’re just haggling over the price.”E.W. Bopp, Tsawwassen, B.C.

Unfit for a king

Re: Terrified U.K. Papers Hold Back On Prince Harry Photos, Aug. 24. The recently released nude pictures of the young prince going wild is a wake-up call for Canada to start talking about the role of the Royal Family and whether they have lost their relevance altogether.

The pictures were disgusting and they brought shame to both Prince Harry and his family. What kind of ethics and manners was he taught as a child? Is this the family we as Canadians take an oath to serve and die for? I don’t think the prince was unaware of what he was doing. I think it is time for Canadians to start thinking seriously of whether we should still keep this family in our highest esteem or whether we should start thinking with the freedom-oriented mindset the Australians and people of New Zealand have towards the Royals.Abubakar N. Kasim, Toronto.

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